Quality

[dlakeman]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

You might want to visit Airstream forums before switching.
But, what were the ETI caused issues?

Never said I was switching to Airstream.

[dlakeman]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

I bet you can get your initial investment out of it.. Why should you expect to get delivery fee and sales tax?... Its still a used trailer... But it obviously isn't what you want..

Ya, it's used. However people are paying premium prices not to wait. I don't know about your State; in Nevada if you buy car, trailer, motor home, etc. from a dealer you pay the Nevada sales tax. If you buy from a private party then you don't pay any sales tax. Would someone pay half my sales tax to avoid a 9% sales tax in California for example! Maybe!

I like it when people make assumptions about other people ("...it's obviously isn't what you want..). How do you know what I want!

[sofmerc]

If its what you want....why y'all complaining? The Escape is no Airstream for sure..and also doesn't have the price tag... You were the one complaining...

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by h2owmn

From VictorPA: "All of these things should have been detected with appropriate quality control at the factory."

To my mind, this single sentence beautifully (and sadly) sums up the whole situation.

The "Reace and Tammy days" were the days of "above and beyond" service. Yes, those days are gone, and yet, they make a stark contrast to the current unsatisfactory level of QC and subsequent responsiveness. That's what makes me feel responsible to add a caveat when folks ask about/admire my Escape. It's a shame.

I'm sorry to inform you that the days of "Reace and Tammy days" and the "QC" that was done is BS.

My trailer had the flooring not glued down due to being built in the new facilities before the heat was on and the glue not sticking at all. I had to cut all the flooring back up and glue it down with the proper adhesive. Tammy sent me a gift card for my troubles but "QC" didn't notice that the floor was bubbled up from the front to the back?

Rease had to send me a new window due to a 1/2" gap between the split windows halves that you could stick a finger through to the interior of the trailer. Rain just sprayed inside. "QC" didn't notice a major leak even though I was told that they do a leak check?

Oh, that famous hot water hose trip that Reace made. The reason that the trip was made was because Reace had decided to use PVC braided tubing on the hot water line to the sink that was not rated to be used with hot water. He went on the trip to repair all those 21's because he was looking at major numbers of flooded trailers and product liability claims if he didn't.

Anyone want to talk about the fridge that Reace used for years that was bullt only for the european market and would not cool in outside temps above 80 degs?

I could keep going as I know of a long list of problem stuff that the current owners of Escape have resolved from when Reace and Tammy ran things.

No. Those were not the good old days.

[sofmerc]

DLakeman Best of luck, I'm sure it will workout whether you keep current trailer or sell and choose another brand.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I'm sorry to inform you that the days of "Reace and Tammy days" and the "QC" that was done is BS.

My trailer had the flooring not glued down due to being built in the new facilities before the heat was on and the glue not sticking at all. I had to cut all the flooring back up and glue it down with the proper adhesive. Tammy sent me a gift card for my troubles but "QC" didn't notice that the floor was bubbled up from the front to the back?

Rease had to send me a new window due to a 1/2" gap between the split windows halves that you could stick a finger through to the interior of the trailer. Rain just sprayed inside. "QC" didn't notice a major leak even though I was told that they do a leak check?

Oh, that famous hot water hose trip that Reace made. The reason that the trip was made was because Reace had decided to use PVC braided tubing on the hot water line to the sink that was not rated to be used with hot water. He went on the trip to repair all those 21's because he was looking at major numbers of flooded trailers and product liability claims if he didn't.

Anyone want to talk about the fridge that Reace used for years that was bullt only for the european market and would not cool in outside temps above 80 degs?

I could keep going as I know of a long list of problem stuff that the current owners of Escape have resolved from when Reace and Tammy ran things.

No. Those were not the good old days.

Dlakeman? care to comment? It ain't all shrimp and grits in the "old days" too...

[Iowa Dave]

We have a great trailer. Works well enough for us that we feel we are camping in luxury. We have the 8555 refrigerator/freezer. Could be better, freezer keeps things frozen. And if temps are so high that the refrigerator can’t quite keep up , we use our Engel swing compressor 110/ 12volt refrigerator which will cool to 34 degrees F. At 2.4 out of 5 on the dial. In amp hours that’s about 1.2 amp hours on a 25% duty cycle. We’ve used it in 100 degree heat several times. Turn it up to about 2.6 and you got yourself some frozen lettuce. Last winter we had our side by side house refrigerator full. Our 17 cu ft upright freezer was full too. We are preppers. Last fall about 10 days before Thanksgiving I bought a 17 lb Turkey on sale. I carried the Engle up from the camper garage and plugged it in. Turned the dial up to -10F until we were ready to thaw said bird. The Engle sat on the treadmill in our 72 degree home until we were ready for the bird. No problem. Did not immediately unplug it because I was able to load it up with some ice cream and Cool whip for that good old pumpkin pie I love so dearly.
The Engle runs on solar when towing or 110 when on shore power. At home it runs on the solar payback from our array and my light bill is $12 40 a month.
When the curve ball hangs, chop down on it and hit behind the runner. Do not say I could have, I would have or I should have.
These are the good old days.
Have a safe and sane Fourth of July.
Iowa Dave

[wackyburggeezer]

There's no way that I could put it to match Iowa Dave, but our E19 has had fewer overall issues than our previous truck camper, and more than our earlier 5th wheel. Our trailer was assembled during the change in ownership, and seems to have a few peculiarities. All of the vendor supplied appliances work (mostly) and only the Dometic digital thermostat has gone to the equipment graveyard so far. The shell, frame, cabinetry, windows, and trim all beat the pants off most of the RVs we've seen. We have friends who bought an Airstream Nest. Now there's a rig that's a study in design AND production flaws. We'll just keep the Escape.

[Oldtimer]

I guess I’m in the lucky column. The only ETI caused / QC issues that I have had is the brake wiring connections under the trailer. Several owners have had that issue. The other issue was with the heater. Had to have the famous sail switch and control board replaced. So I’m knocking on wood major here. Would I buy another Escape, in a heart beat but would have to be able to pick it up at the factory to go over it top n bottom as we did when picked up our 21. Our was built just before Reace n Tammy sold the business.

David

[davidmurphy02]

When our 1999 stick and tin trailer, after repeated roof leaks, rotted away until it was literally about to fall apart, the interior was still in A1 shape and all the original appliances still worked. It is undeniable that the quality/longevity of RV appliances has gone downhill, and the pandemic has only made that worse. Every time I hear about another Dometic fridge crapping out I yearn for our old Norcold which worked great for over 15 years.

But the fiberglass shell is why we were so thrilled to get an Escape. All manufacturers are I'm sure frustrated by all the issues with components. Honda may have the size and power to dictate to suppliers and insist on quality, but Escape is small and at the mercy of the market for components. I doubt the quality of stick and tin construction has done anything but decline over the years and it was lousy decades ago - I am very happy to have a fiberglass 5.0 that will last pretty much forever (definitely forever at my age) and while I cuss and fume when I am tearing my furnace apart trying to get it to work, given the alternatives I wouldn't trade for any other brand of trailer.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Those of us who dealt with Reace andTammy and their staff at the factory one in one, had them stop by your trailer at the annual rally and explain something to you and most impressively heard Reace deliver his “what could go wrong” saga of the early days through the expansion processes, thin financial footing and all, were treated to meeting a rare, sincere, and genuinely honest man and his wife. I can count on one hand the business owners I’ve met in my life with the traits Reace and Tammy exhibited to me. Just lucky I guess.
Iowa Dave

Totally agree.

[Vermilye]

For me, the lack of a dealer to "deal" with problems is the largest negative. Right now most RV repair shops are overwhelmed with repairs for their own customer's problems, and are not interested in taking on another manufacturer's problems, guarantee service or not. On top of that is the low shop rate Dometic is willing to pay for repairs, limited availability of parts, etc makes anything other than do it yourself maintenance a month or two wait, it available at all.

Of course this is a problem for most factory sales RVs unless you live close to Casita, Scamp or Oliver.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

Dlakeman? care to comment? It ain't all shrimp and grits in the "old days" too...

On this thread alone we have at least 4 posters who have received their new Escapes within the last 6 months, and have found the QC to be inadequate. Such sentiment has been expressed by others who have received their camper in the last year on this forum on other threads. They have every right to say so on this forum, without being persecuted. Should they turn around and sell their camper is not for anyone else to say or suggest. That they have not does not make their issues or comments on the QC any less credible. Nor do they deserve this type of harassment.

In my view, Escape does have an emerging quality problem. Whether it is due to the change in ownership / leadership, the rush to increase production to meet surging post-Covid demand or the introduction of new options without adequate preparation is something I cannot say. But, for the sake of its present and future customers, I hope they take it seriously and address it. It is a company with a good DNA, some very good people - with scores of happy customers and it’d be a shame to lose their long earned reputation. As a direct-sales model, they are less suited to fare well with it.

[cpaharley2008]

Let's try to be nice here or the thread will be closed.......

[Donna D.]

Yeah, what Jim said. I've deleted several posts and edited at least one. Attacks on members will not be tolerated. THIS thread is about quality. Please stick with that.

[ksfisk]

+1 to everything kavm said.

additionally, i can be added to the list of folks who have received their trailers in the last six months, who found qc to be lacking.
here are the issues i had:
picked up my trailer about 100 miles from home. when i stopped to torque the lug nuts, i noticed that the spare tire was wobbling back and forth on its holder. apparently, the nuts for that had not been tightened down, and it had so much movement in it, that the bolts were bent. I had to remove the spare tire before I could travel further, because I was afraid that the bolts would break and the spare tire would land in the windshield of someone behind me.
The next issue was that the three screws that hold in the vent in the bathroom had all worked themselves loose and were hanging down. When I went to tighten them, I found that all three holes were stripped out.
The most troublesome issue for me was the quality of the installation of the composting toilet. it is a ridiculously sloppy and problematic installation. The liquids tank is supposed to seal against a plunger that is attached to the seat. I found a significant gap between the plunger and the seat, that would render the system unusable.
I contacted escape about all three issues. The spare tire issue I was able to resolve myself by replacing the bolts, but I wanted them to be aware of it, because I thought it was extremely dangerous. I felt really lucky that the spare tire did not fall off and land in someone's path.
For the screws in the bathroom vent, their solution was for me to put in a size bigger screw.. maybe this is an acceptable solution. I don't have enough of a construction skill set to know whether this is a proper solution or not. but I'm willing to give it a try and find out. The fan issue was annoying, but doesn't seem like a huge deal. It seems easy enough to find some sort of resolution to, even if the bigger screws don't solve the issue.
I have been extremely frustrated with their solutions, or lack there of, for the composting toilet. it has been over a week since I told Dustin that I found his solutions to be inadequate and problematic. I have not heard back from him since that point.
I find it almost amusing that they have a video out from shortly after they announced the Production increase, in which they talk about quality control and how when a customer brings an issue to their attention, a ticket would be opened and it would remain open until the customer told them it was resolved to their satisfaction.
Oh... couple of other minor things, that to me, demonstrate a lack of attention to detail. I ordered my propane tanks full. They told me they could not be shipped full when the trailer is being delivered, and my tanks would be shipped empty. They refunded my money for the propane. My propane tanks came full. My freshwater tank also came full - but at least that means they tested the seelevel system.

[diannelgraham]

While it’s great to post all the issues folks are having with quality as we know with all trailers manufacturers there will be issues. Karl ( Escape ) has stated numerous times on their Q&A videos they don’t log on to the Escape form so all of these issues are not being heard by Escape. Is there a reason we are not also posting on their Escape form? Are they going to vet out and not let these type of problems post? I think Escape needs feedback from their owners in a constructive way to make them aware of new owner issues. If they are already aware and not being proactive to build in better quality then yes eventually they will loose business.

[ksfisk]

Originally Posted by diannelgraham

While it’s great to post all the issues folks are having with quality as we know with all trailers manufacturers there will be issues. Karl ( Escape ) has stated numerous times on their Q&A videos they don’t log on to the Escape form so all of these issues are not being heard by Escape. Is there a reason we are not also posting on their Escape form? Are they going to vet out and not let these type of problems post? I think Escape needs feedback from their owners in a constructive way to make them aware of new owner issues. If they are already aware and not being proactive to build in better quality then yes eventually they will loose business.

In my case, I contacted escape directly with the issues that I have posted here, before i posted here.

[Brian B-P]

ETI has made it clear that their forum is not for open discussion. If you want to provide feedback to ETI - which is certainly a good idea - why not just send them an e-mail?

Any company needs a system which collects and manages issues. A third-party forum like this can't be that system, and the ETI forum isn't, either. Most companies don't expose their system to their customers, and ETI doesn't, and building an external system for them seems futile.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by diannelgraham

While it’s great to post all the issues folks are having with quality as we know with all trailers manufacturers there will be issues. Karl ( Escape ) has stated numerous times on their Q&A videos they don’t log on to the Escape form so all of these issues are not being heard by Escape. Is there a reason we are not also posting on their Escape form? Are they going to vet out and not let these type of problems post? I think Escape needs feedback from their owners in a constructive way to make them aware of new owner issues. If they are already aware and not being proactive to build in better quality then yes eventually they will loose business.

I am sure every one of the owners with issues has been in contact with Escape post-sales support team. Ksfisk noted that. I know I have been. I have also written to Karl and asked my sales support person to pass my feedback to Karl, as I could not find his contact information anywhere on the website. So, I wonder what makes you think that Escape is somehow not aware of the owner issues or that anyone raising them here is being irresponsible (i.e., not constructive).